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Alcatraz's Diamond T

The Diamond T was finished in gleaming red with plenty of gold leaf striping. . . Capable of pumping about five hundred gallons per minute, the Diamond T could throw a stream of water powerful enough to quench just about any blaze on the island.

Diamond T fire engine on The Rock

Alcatraz! The name alone brought fear to those men who dared to violate the laws of the United States. For most of those that were sent to the that dreaded island, known as “The Rock” to serve their time, the thought of who or what provided fire protection to the them was most likely not much of an issue. However, in 1934 a new piece of fire protection arrived and was tucked away in the ramparts of the old fort walls, ready to serve at a moment's notice. The new rig was a 1934 Diamond T fire engine.

The addition of the Diamond T engine most likely came in the wake of the deadly 1930 Ohio State Penitentiary fire which killed over three hundred inmates. The prison had no fire apparatus and system for battling fires in place.

The Diamond T was finished in gleaming red with plenty of gold leaf striping, operated by federal prison guards who were detailed to fire duty when the alarm sounded. Capable of pumping about five hundred gallons per minute, the Diamond T could throw a stream of water powerful enough to quench just about any blaze on the island.

The year 1934 was historic for the prison, as the new Diamond T fire engine arrived via the Panama Canal, so did several notable American gangsters, including Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. Both of these gangsters would eventually spend less time at “the Rock” then did the Diamond T. For twenty-nine years the little engine responded to various small fires around the island and was often the centerpiece of tours for visiting dignitaries and other corrections officials of the time. For the two hundred fifty prisoners on the island and the employees and their families of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, this engine served as the sole mechanized protector from fire on the island. Finally in 1963 when the prison was deactivated by the US Government, the engine was abandoned and was relegated to its little firehouse beneath the prison walls.

In 1969, American Indians began illegally occupying the island and over the next year or so the little fire engine was vandalized, used as target practice and left to decay in the salt air of the San Francisco Bay.

After the Alcatraz Island was adopted into the National Park Service as part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Diamond T was secured as a cultural resource and mostly forgotten about for another twenty years.

Interest in restoring the Diamond T and having her placed back in full service for the visitors to the park became the mission for NPS employees Brian Johnson, John Cantwell, and Jim Adams. John Cantwell and Jim Adams worked with staff in their shop at the Indian Springs State Prison near Las Vegas, Nevada and restored the vintage engine for $100,000.

Restored Diamond T

On Sept 23, 2003, nearly seventy years since she was first unloaded onto the island, the fully restored Diamond T was placed by crane back in her home. The park visitors love to see her on the dock of the Rock!